The problem with the person that is willing to spend $2300 on a bookshelf speaker probably wouldn't be considering any of the "value" brands. These two speakers really do not compete with each other in the marketplace.

Now if you upgrade the vinyl finish to a wood veneer or piano finish, you will have the looks of a high end speaker, sound and bragging rights.

It would also have been interesting if they had an M2 as speaker choice number 3.

I was thinking that the blind listening test was going to be on different driver complements of a prototype speaker.

A/B testing with an M2 or similar speaker vs a larger speaker is hard because the first thing you notice is the different degrees of bass extension. Maybe others have more disciplined ears but I have a tough time getting past that and focusing on the other issues.

With a sub, of course, it's a different story. I held a few impromptu A/B tests with a group of friends, comparing M60s vs M2s, both running "small" with a big-ass sub. At moderate listening levels the differences were remarkably small, although for HT applications the ability to crank up the M60s to higher SPLs while maintaining clarity made a huge difference.

I found it difficult, too. But I think this was due to the fact that the speakers WERE so close (which, of course, is quite a testament to the Axioms and their lower price).

I think, for instance, had I compared my M60s to my older DCM TimeFrames, almost every aspect of the sound...lows, mids, highs, would have sounded substantially different and the test would have been easy.

Perhaps Ian,Andrew, Alan or such can answer something I was contemplating after this test. Has anyone set up listening tests based on gender and then compared the results? do men and women have the same preferences? I've been led to believe(incorrectly?) that women generally have more acute/sensitive hearing and might that change their preference vs men...just curious.

I've been told by women that I don't listen.

Does that count?

It's called selective filtering.

I heard of such testing going on but missed out on it all because the room was designed by some walkie; yet again .

I don't remember there being accessibility issues...unless the door was narrow.